Maine's Money Grab (Trees And Things)

skeptic: Re: Merry Christmas!

Mon, 31 Dec 2007 08:55:01 EST

Oh, THAT'S why your bathtub is filled with ice-cubes. And I thought you were just over-heated. There's nothing like getting into a bathtub full of ice-cubes, on a warm December day.

Anyway, if it is your plan to give away other people's kidn

TonedEff: Re: Merry Christmas!

Sat, 29 Dec 2007 16:08:40 EST

I never said anything about limiting it to mine. That's the reason for the bathtubs filled with ice cubes.

skeptic: Merry Christmas!

Sat, 29 Dec 2007 10:20:01 EST

I can honestly say that if you are in a position to give more than one person a new kidney for Christmas, I am impressed. And so is Santa Claus.

TonedEff: Re: Maine's Money Grab

Sat, 29 Dec 2007 09:31:50 EST

"... there are only so many kidneys that you can donate. Only one, actually. You need to keep one for yourself."

Unless, of course, you have a connection with seedier elements on the other side of the Mexican border with bathtubs fill

skeptic: Re: Maine's Money Grab

Sat, 29 Dec 2007 09:07:17 EST

I could argue that the people who thoughtfully select what they consider to be an appropriate gift card, rather than giving money, are not necessarily thoughtful enough, because lots of people are not using their gift cards. Presumably, if you gave s

Lou: Nostolgic moments

Fri, 28 Dec 2007 15:21:20 EST

I'm not so sure of that...I was in the bank last week before Christmas and an older guy at the teller next to me asked for $350 in 7 new $50 bills. We shared a laugh when I asked him if he had 7 grandchildren.

It reminded me of how often my own gr

arromdee: Re: Maine's Money Grab

Fri, 28 Dec 2007 14:41:06 EST

But what then is the advantage to the consumer? If you want someone to buy their own gift, it is so much simpler to just give them money.

The point of a gift isn't supposed to be to make the recipient richer, it's for the gift-giver to sho

skeptic: Re: Maine's Money Grab

Thu, 27 Dec 2007 09:55:50 EST

This is a somewhat late reply, but perhaps you will be interested anyway.

I'm sure that, as you say, businesses LIKE the fact that there is a significant percentage of gift cards that never get used, which greatly increases the profit of the company sel

JimmyHavok: Re: why not "use it or lose it"?

Wed, 26 Dec 2007 19:30:55 EST

You're right, I missed that benefit. I guess it was just too small to see.

gerrymander: Re: why not "use it or lose it"?

Wed, 26 Dec 2007 10:45:20 EST

You still haven't explained where the benefit to the consumer lies.

I'm sorry, I thought that would be obvious. The benefit to the consumer lies in the consumer having more incentive to use the gift card, instead of forgetting about it. Every gif

JimmyHavok: Re: Question

Wed, 26 Dec 2007 03:11:10 EST

In most states, they'd say "Sorry, that card has expired," or "Sorry, there's only 18 cents left on that card." Hawaii doesn't allow that trick, gift cards aren't allowed to expire here.

JimmyHavok: Re: why not "use it or lose it"?

Wed, 26 Dec 2007 03:08:29 EST

You still haven't explained where the benefit to the consumer lies. After all, they get to spend money and get nothing in return, while the merchant gets to receive money and do nothing in return. All the benefit there seems to be on the mercha

Lou: Question

Tue, 25 Dec 2007 12:09:09 EST

I once had a Waldenbooks card in my wallet for something like two years. What would happen if this law passed and I went into Waldenbooks to use the card...what would they say? "Sorry, but your state has already confiscated that money"

gerrymander: Re: why not "use it or lose it"?

Tue, 25 Dec 2007 10:10:28 EST

Or, if you were actually serious, explain why an expiration date is a benefit to the consumer.

I am serious. A well-publicized expiration date would put the consumer on notice that gift cards were a finitely useful resource. I'm not exactly break

JimmyHavok: Re: why not "use it or lose it"?

Tue, 25 Dec 2007 02:30:11 EST

...the merchants would be better off by legislation mandating all gift cards and certificates carry large "expire by" notices.

There, fixed your spelling error. Or, if you were actually serious, explain why an expiration date is a benefit t

gerrymander: why not "use it or lose it"?

Mon, 24 Dec 2007 23:26:34 EST

Most states have an unclaimed property law that remits unclaimed funds to the state for management.

But the only reason those funds are unclaimed is by previous legislation! Were it up to the merchants, gift cards would become void after a year,

JimmyHavok: Hardly a "money grab"

Mon, 24 Dec 2007 21:41:43 EST

Most states have an unclaimed property law that remits unclaimed funds to the state for management. All this does it make gift cards fall under the already existing law.

The merchants don't lose a dime, since they have the money in their pockets f

JimmyHavok: deposit on cigarette butts

Mon, 24 Dec 2007 21:13:49 EST

That's a great idea. One of the most disgusting attributes of smokers is their tendency to fling the butt down as if it would dissolve once their back was turned...of course, as far as they are concerned, that's what happens.

An alternative would

zyxwvutsr: Re: Maine's Money Grab

Mon, 24 Dec 2007 14:03:03 EST

...I see the money as belonging to the merchant. In my mind, all the customer holds is future value for merchandise

There are a couple twists that have to do with how gift card revenue is accounted for.

In a straight-cash

Lou: Gotta admit...we're creative

Mon, 24 Dec 2007 13:36:06 EST

Pah...getting cash back from unredeemed gift cards is nothing...my state once considered put a deposit fee on cigarette butts.

thefadd: Re: Maine's Money Grab

Mon, 24 Dec 2007 12:50:23 EST

For about 3 days, I worked for a company that made and supported gift cards and gift card systems for businesses. The amount of money put on gift cards and never redeemed was referred to in the industry as the "escheatment value." It was generally estimate

skeptic: Re: Maine's Money Grab

Mon, 24 Dec 2007 08:52:55 EST

I still find it a bit bizarre that there are so many people who don't use their gift cards. If we REALLY wanted to be fair, the law should require that if a gift card is not used within a specified period of time (a year, let us say) than the purchas